The Bibleworks forum member Adelphos has often mentioned the name of R.D. Wilson.
But, just who was Wilson, I have often wondered? Then I found an article that reads very much like what Adelphos said about the man.

Robert Wilson was born in 1856; he graduated from Princeton University at the age of twenty. He went on to earn both a Masters degree and a PhD. He then did further post-graduate work in Germany for two years...

Wilson was but twenty-five years of age when he determined that he would invest years of careful study in the text of the Old Testament so that he could speak with authority as to whether or not it has been preserved in an accurate format...

Robert Wilson estimated that he might live to about seventy years of age. Since he was twenty-five at the time, that would give him about forty-five years remaining to accomplish his goal. Accordingly, he divided his projected remaining years into three periods of fifteen years each. Here is how he would pursue his plan:

For the first fifteen years, he would study every language that had a bearing on the text of the Old Testament. He set himself to the task. During that time he mastered forty-five languages! He not only became an expert in Hebrew and its kindred tongues, but he learned all the languages into which the Scriptures had been translated down to the year A.D. 600.

During the next fifteen years Wilson dedicated himself to studying the text of the Old Testament itself. He looked at every consonant in the Old Testament text (the Hebrew Old Testament has no vowels)—about one and a quarter million of them. He made a thorough scientific investigation of the Old Testament text, as compared to other writings of antiquity.

11-18-2010, 12:10 PM

Adelphos

Wilson's "Scientific Investigation Of The Old Testament" and "Studies In The Book Of Daniel" are two masterpieces.

Wilson demolished Driver, et. al. in his day, and his surviving books, as noted above, still utterly refute so much of modern theor on the OT and its provenance, and especially the linguistic arguments he brings to bear come from who certainly speaks from authority. In short, Driver et. al. were rank amateurs in linguistics compard to R. D. Wilson.

Wilson's "Scientific Investigation Of The Old Testament" and "Studies In The Book Of Daniel" are two masterpieces.

I'd like to read "Scientific Investigation Of The Old Testament"! I haven't yet, but I recently I have seen a few reviews about it and your book recommendations so far have been pretty good. So, I think I'll order that one from Amazon.com.

11-18-2010, 07:30 PM

Adelphos

Quote:

Originally Posted by bkMitchell

I'd like to read "Scientific Investigation Of The Old Testament"! I haven't yet, but I recently I have seen a few reviews about it and your book recommendations so far have been pretty good. So, I think I'll order that one from Amazon.com.